electrical construction laws - Page 2

Olly · #11 10-23-2009, 09:50 AM

I was recently asked by a friend to design,supervise,install and test wiring in a rebuilt house to North American Standards( NEC code) including dual kitchen circuit, surge protection (on power, cable and telephone) and grounding. Final testing was also included.
As I am a retired electrical engineer this was an interesting diversion but the installation was hard work. The outcome was very satisfactory and I would agree with Castlemonte that if you do it to North American Standards you will have little trouble with the electrics.
JD - there are in fact a variety of European Standards depending which country you are in but the IET Wiring regulations 17th Edition BS7671 are the UK standards. Personally I would not recommend using UK/European Standards here. The predominance of 120VAC and higher amp loads are not well suited to the UK type house wiring.
As to the standards used here I have seen and reviewed engineers electrical designs and they were quite good and in general to NEC. In some respects an overkill. But as one poster said getting that installed per the design is difficult unless you use the more expensive Electrical Engineering companies here.

HTH

Olly

J D Sauser · #12 10-23-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olly

I was recently asked by a friend to design,supervise,install and test wiring in a rebuilt house to North American Standards( NEC code) including dual kitchen circuit, surge protection (on power, cable and telephone) and grounding. Final testing was also included.
As I am a retired electrical engineer this was an interesting diversion but the installation was hard work. The outcome was very satisfactory and I would agree with Castlemonte that if you do it to North American Standards you will have little trouble with the electrics.
JD - there are in fact a variety of European Standards depending which country you are in but the IET Wiring regulations 17th Edition BS7671 are the UK standards. Personally I would not recommend using UK/European Standards here. The predominance of 120VAC and higher amp loads are not well suited to the UK type house wiring.
As to the standards used here I have seen and reviewed engineers electrical designs and they were quite good and in general to NEC. In some respects an overkill. But as one poster said getting that installed per the design is difficult unless you use the more expensive Electrical Engineering companies here.

HTH

Olly

I agree, Olly... I too recommend using US code and technology here in the DR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by J D Sauser

-The European system is very different to the US system. It's not just limited to the higher voltage. But boxes, breakers and generally available parts are quite different. The US system, properly installed also puts quite some emphasis on how outlets are connected to the "hot" and the "neutral" which the European system does not so much, as EU countries are much more centered on grounding. Likewise, it is code in most US states to have ALL outlets in "water" rooms (like kitchens, washing rooms and bath rooms) equipped with their own GFI. Not so in Europe as they have a different approach on the overall wiring.-

As I mentioned, there are step by step do it yourself books available in the US (HomeDepot, Amazon) for $20.oo to $30.oo which can help most everybody handy with a screw driver and with basic understanding of the physical laws of electricity wire up a home better than many "electricista" here ever would.
Planning is of essence.
I had a Romanian worker in Spain who'd draw his schematics right on the walls throughout the homes we build. At first, I would had preferred to be presented with plans I could check in my office. But then, after he had successfully wired up the first home without a bzzt, fffrt or zap... I let him proceed. Actually, I came to find it a quite acceptable way to proceed.

Glad to hear somebody's got a zap-free home here.

... J-D.